National Land Transport Act, 2009 (Act No. 5 of 2009)RegulationsSecond National Land Transport Regulations, 2025Chapter 1: Regulations on Contracting for Public Transport Services7. Requirements for tenderers |
| (1) | The tender and contract documents contemplated in section 42(6) of the Act must include that to qualify as a tenderer for a subsidised service contract, an operator and, where appropriate, any person or entity exercising ownership control over an operator, or performing services on behalf of, or in the capacity as agent of, an operator must comply with the following requirements: |
| (a) | Must conduct public transport operations according to business principles with financial ringfencing, and |
| (b) | must have his, her or its tax affairs in order and be able to furnish a valid tax clearance certificate or PIN (personal identification number) issued by the South African Revenue Services. |
| (2) | For the purposes of sub-regulation (1)(a), an operator is financially ringfenced if— |
| (a) | the business of the operator's undertaking is conducted separately from that of another entity or undertaking or any other organisation; |
| (b) | the operator keeps separate accounting records, in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice and procedures, of its assets, liabilities, income, expenditure, profits and losses; |
| (c) | the operator's undertaking is financially sustainable in terms of its financial statements, and |
| (d) | the operator has no unfair advantage as regards access to financial or other support or resources from any organ of state as defined in section 239 of the Constitution, unless such advantage is part of a scheme which applies generally, approved by the contracting authority, to protect or advance public transport operators disadvantaged by unfair discrimination or to assist small businesses; provided that any advantage emanating from a subsidised service contract is not deemed to be an unfair advantage for the purposes of this sub-regulation. |
| (3) | For the duration of a subsidised service contract, an operator and any person or entity exercising ownership control over an operator or performing services on behalf of or in the capacity as agent of an operator, must where appropriate— |
| (a) | keep separate record, in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices and procedures, of his or her or its financial position, performance, flow of funds and change in financial position; |
| (b) | undergo an annual audit by a person registered in terms of the Auditing Profession Act, 2005 (Act No. 26 of 2005); |
| (c) | comply with the requirements of sub-regulation (1), and |
| (d) | not enjoy an unfair advantage emanating from an organ of state, subject to the proviso to sub-regulation (2)(d). |
| (4) | For the purpose of this regulation— |
| (a) | "ownership control" means control by one person or entity over another as contemplated in section 2 of the Companies Act, 2008 (Act No. 71 of 2008), and |
| (b) | "unfair advantage" means, but is not limited to— |
| (i) | the receipt by an operator of any direct or indirect benefit, including funds, resources, donations, grants, consideration or other advantage, whether financial or otherwise, which is not available on the same terms and conditions to all other potential operators; |
| (ii) | the direct or indirect guarantee or honouring of any of the obligations of the operator, including the arrangement or facilitation thereof; |
| (iii) | the direct or indirect provision of a loan bearing no interest, or interest at a substantially lower rate than would be available commercially to a similar operator under similar conditions, or a loan in respect of which interest payments are deferred for a period of more than six months, including the arrangement or facilitation of the granting of any such loan, or |
| (iv) | allowing an operator to make use, or failing to prevent an operator from making use, of any public resources, including infrastructure, property, facilities, assets, human resources, systems, expertise, or intellectual property, or facilitating such action, which would not be available to another similar operator on the same terms and conditions. |
| (5) | The contracting authority must consider the fitness of the tenderer as an operator based, among other things, on the latter's record of convictions for criminal offences of a type considered to be relevant by that authority. |